A Scrapbook of One-shots
by Elemental-Zer0
Summary: A series of oneshots about the characters of Midnight, Texas. Because I can't think of a solid plot line or find the time to dedicate myself to one. Enjoy!
1. Excerpt One

**A Scrapbook of One-shot** s

 **Disclaimer:** _This is a Fan-fiction story of the Book (and soon to be TV) series; Midnight, Texas and is in no way affiliated with the actual series. All characters and other materials related to the book and show that are used are not intended to infringe on any Copyrights. Elemental-Zer0 takes sole responsibility for any mistakes or offence that may be taken but truly not meant._

 _However, this story plot and all Characters not affiliated with the show are Copyright © 2017 to Elemental-Zer0._

 **Author's Note** : So, I was so intrigued by the trailer for Midnight, Texas that I just had to buy the books and have a read. I'm so glad I did. However, the books were not enough for my sadistic mind so I asked Fanfiction people to create this category and came up with this idea… Seeing as I have no solid plot or time to think one up or write one – instead I set out some one-shots to soothe my cravings for character suffering and saviours. Hope you like.

* * *

 **Scrapbook Excerpt #1 – Manfred Bernardo**

He was open. Completely and utterly open to invasion and could do nothing to prevent it or close it down. For years, his grandmother had been warning him of these kinds of situations, where a dark arts user would find him and use him to enslave the restless spirits of the world unto their bidding. He had heard in great detail of the sheer unrelenting force of what would happen and how he'd be completely reliant on either the perpetrator voluntarily stopping – which didn't seem likely – or an outside force putting a stop to the spell that had been cursed.

He was crying. He knew he was. He could feel the tears streaking down his face as the agony of his power being used without his will or consent ripped through him and left a flayed and raw trail behind it. He was bound in place, held still and compliant by the dark magic that ensnared him. He was a slave to its whim and power. He was helpless. Vulnerable. And it was exhausting him. He hadn't ever thought himself very powerful, quite the opposite, his power had always been a slight blip and never really wanted to work when he needed it to. He hadn't known just how much this dark arts master could actually rip from him, it felt like a lot or was that just because it hurt a lot?

"Get your hands off of my friend!" The angry shout had sounded vaguely familiar and had he not been in so much pain, he might have recognised the owner of the voice. The Dark arts master paused briefly which gave Manfred the slightest freedom to breathe a little before the man started again. But to his surprise the dark arts master was suddenly no longer by his side. Instead there were gentle hands groping his face with a soft and soothing voice murmuring to him. He was so dazed he still wasn't sure what was happening, was that Fiji?

He waited for his hallucination to end, because surely that's what this was, but that didn't happen. Instead his wrists were released and he flopped forward into a set of strong waiting arms.

"Be calm friend. You are safe now." The voice had a distinct accent. The arms were cool, frostily so. Lemuel, he realised. And the woman from earlier… was Fiji. His friends had rescued him. Relief swept away any last vestiges of fight and energy he had left and he sank gratefully into whoever's arms had hold of him.

"Will he be ok?" He heard another woman ask, Olivia. He recognised her twanged accent.

"The bastard drained him pretty badly. He's running on empty. I don't know exactly what state he's in and I won't unless you get him to my spare bedroom. Goddess knows he can't stay here." Fiji said and she began grabbing bits and pieces from his bedroom floor and drawers. He felt Lemuel shift his grip and then lift him up from the ground. He must've looked quite the pathetic sight but he couldn't muster up enough energy to care at this point. Instead, he let his head fall back and allowed himself to pass the fuck out.


	2. Excerpt Two - Part 1

**A scrapbook of one shots**

 **Disclaimer:** _This is a Fan-fiction story of the Book (and soon to be TV) series; Midnight, Texas and is in no way affiliated with the actual series. All characters and other materials related to the book and show that are used are not intended to infringe on any Copyrights. Elemental-Zer0 takes sole responsibility for any mistakes or offence that may be taken but truly not meant._

 _However, this story plot and all Characters not affiliated with the show are Copyright © 2010 to Elemental-Zer0._

 **Author's Note** : So this Excerpt is probably going to be two chapters long, simply because I can't finish the thought just yet and this idea had a lot of information to fill in. It is still just a one-shot though.

* * *

 **Scrapbook Excerpt #2 – Manfred Bernardo (Again – this will probably not change)**

It was a strange feeling. Weightless, sleepy, blissfully ignorant. He hadn't felt this innocent for a long time. On some logical term, he knew he should probably be feeling some form of panic or indignant anger but somehow he just couldn't seem to make his pride and sense of self-preservation kick in. He guessed that was what the pheromones were for, keep him sedately uncaring while the ghoul fed on his soul.

Even the fleeting thought of the ghoul couldn't seem to muster up any reactive response. Instead, he just floated there, in a haze of innocence, ignorance and light hearted bliss. It was an enjoyable feeling. Why would he want to fight it? He gave that some thought and realised that he didn't, so he let himself go.

* * *

It wasn't often Lemuel felt scared. His own life span was eternal unless someone staked him but only a handful of people knew about that and he trusted them completely. And he was very capable of protecting those few people too. His girlfriend, Olivia, was quite capable of keeping herself safe and alive too.

The only time he has felt this kind of fear is when one of his family was in trouble and he couldn't find them. Ordinarily, his sense of smell was enough to identify and locate anyone within a 20-mile radius of Midnight. Beyond that, he had his speed to help him get to the edge of that radius and extend his senses beyond Midnight. If that failed, he had his aura sense too which had never failed unless the person he was looking for was no longer in Texas – which in this case was highly unlikely as the man had only been missing for twenty minutes – or dead.

He explained as much to the small search group that had gathered inside the pawn shop. He'd called them early hours of the morning because he'd felt the connection to his missing friend's aura snap shut abruptly with no explanation and no trail to follow either. It was as if Manfred had just disappeared into thin air – which was equally as impossible as him skipping out of town in twenty minutes.

"Can you locate Manfred with a spell, Fiji?" Bobo asked and the witch stiffened a little. Her Aunt had always taught her that it was a good idea to have a personal piece of everyone she knew for just in case they turned on her. She could use that same piece to find someone too but then she'd need another piece of him to replace what she had used. She was confident she could get it but she wasn't sure what the others would think of her odd collection. But then it occurred to her that they didn't need to know that particular detail.

"I can try," She hedged, "But if whatever is blocking Lemuel is as strong as we think it is, then I don't know if the locator spell would work." She explained. She had many spells she could use but not enough of Manfred's hair to work them all. Unless… "If we knew what was blocking Lemuel, I could create a counter spell that would enable the locator spell to find Manfred." She added, mentally going through a list of supernatural lifeforms that could make people disappear without a trace. The list was extensive however and with no other detail to go with, she would be hard pressed to create a spell that could counter all of them. Some of the ingredients would counter each other and separate spelling alongside other active spells could create a very generous back draft of magic that would not be beneficial in Midnight, especially with how close they were to a thinning veil. It wasn't worth the risk.

"We don't know what is hiding him though." Olivia pointed out, voicing Fiji's concerns with her own.

"It's a ghoul." Joe piped up suddenly. "There's been signs of it around Midnight. Cattle death, rodent population rocketing, colder weather and general feel of fatigue. I didn't realise what it all meant 'til just now." He admitted sheepishly. Lemuel nodded though,

"That makes sense. A ghoul can produce pheromones to block a person's aura or scent. It's why I can't sense Manfred." He agreed.

"Fiji," Bobo spoke up, "Can your locator spells work now you know it's a ghoul?" He asked, the question focussing the group's tension to a point.

She nodded. It would be a tricky spell but nothing she hadn't handled in the past. "I'll need to prep first. I'll be in my kitchen. Shouldn't more than an hour." She explained and stood up to leave.

"So it's settled, we meet outside Fiji's in an hour." Lemuel confirmed before she could leave the room, "Read up on your Ghoul lore, let's find out how to get rid of our unwanted guest quickly."

* * *

He woke again, this time in pain. He opened his eyes, hoping to find the source of his discomfort but the dim light that greeted him didn't help him at all. Near as he could tell, he was in some cavern. And deeply so for there was no natural light with which to see. There were, however, candles dotted around the place. He lifted his head to get a better view of his unexpected sleeping quarters and found that he was actually laid on a raised slab of rock. There was a nest of straw, blankets and several cushions in one corner and on the opposite wall was what he presumed was the entrance to the cavern.

Bingo.

Manfred tried to sit up but found that he couldn't. A quick survey of his situation revealed that he had been strapped down to the stone slab via various ropes and chains. Another attempt to loosen said ropes and chains revealed a sudden agonizing regret from his left side and thigh and a smaller pain from his right shoulder.

He'd been injured. Great.

He wriggled again, gently this time to see how much he could move. It wasn't much. Damnit. This was going to be difficult.

Moments later, the ghoul floated into the cave. Manfred was captivated instantly, his fear warring against the unexpected beauty of the creature. In all the books and movies he'd seen as a kid, a ghoul had been depicted as an ugly twisted creature, but that was not true. This one before him glowed with an ethereal light, its skin a flawless white. Its nails were dark and long, pointed like an elegant claw. Long white hair floated about its head and partially hid its dark, fathomless eyes. It had a feminine appearance, delicate and graceful as it floated a few centimetres off the ground. It watched him with sad, soulless eyes, clearly looking for that which it could never have. It hovered closer, approaching Manfred with a hungry intent and Manfred's forgotten fear returned threefold.

"Stay back." He nervously commanded. But his willpower had been weakened in their initial contact. It'd drained away his focus to will it away with his power, and had fed on his soul a little to reduce his energy. He was weak and at its mercy.

It ignored his demand and reached forward with its deadly nails. Manfred didn't have time to brace himself before it moved with lightning speed and ripped open another fresh wound down his left leg. The pain was intense and Manfred's scream echoed through the cavernous halls. Fresh rivulets of blood leaked onto the stone slab beneath him as he bled painfully from the new wound.

It watched as if fascinated by the trails of the red life wielding liquid. Slowly it inched its head closer to the wound and Manfred squinted at its behaviour through the pain. It's tongue; a long blackened muscle pressed into the wound and Manfred tried to jerk away from the sudden re-emergence of pain but was held in place by the ropes again. A pained grunt left him as he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to breathe through it.

He felt dizzy and tired and nauseous all at once, and he just knew that if he didn't get out of here soon, he'd never see daylight again.

* * *

Part two to follow when I can think of the next bit...


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